27 replies to this topic

[Ahududu]

As you know, I work in a private school in Istanbul.

I am really quite surprised at the number of obese, and morbidly obese children in my classes, and in the school in general. I have to say there aren't as many at my kids' state school.

Now, the school dinners are very carbohydrate heavy, and of course the food contains a lot of oil and salt. Also, on every table there is salt and a bottle of oil to add to your food!!
Then, every 40 minutes when each lesson ends, kids can (and do) buy cheese toast sandwiches, ice creams, and even small pizzas.

On the whole the kids run everywhere, and they peg up and down several flights of stairs everyday, and at break-times they are playing volleyball or basketball.

So, just HOW MUCH food are these kids consuming to still be so overweight, when they are burning up so much energy at school??

My own niece is 8 years old and wears clothes sized for 13-14 years old!!

I really think that it is a worse problem here than where I lived in UK, in fact you could pick out the obese kids on one hand there.

Clearly, it is a parental problem, and sometimes when you see the mothers next to the children, they are both the same height, but the mothers are even more over weight.

Anyway, it was just an observation, and I wondered if you had noticed it in your area too?

[Abi]

Interesting post. I lived in Samsun for over 6 years and during that time noticed that children seemed to be getting fatter. It seemed to coincide with the arrival of McDonalds and Burger King. I noticed that when I went into these places, which wasn't very often, that the children were mainly on the larger side. The places were always packed and mainly by the better off.

I think it's wrong that children are allowed to buy food between lessons. IMO I don't think it should be allowed.

[Cukurbagli]

I think it's wrong that children are allowed to buy food between lessons. IMO I don't think it should be allowed.

Me too, there are quite a few fat kids around here, their mothers encourage them to eat a lot I think. As a matter of fact I'm usually told I should eat four gözleme at one go!

[Ahududu]

Yes, Abi, I also think it's wrong that they can buy food between lessons, and also as some of them don't like the canteen food, they bring money to buy their own lunch from the canteen, and clearly, as I see what they buy, they don't make the healthiest of choices!

I wouldn't totally blame fast food outlets, as the kids are at school for most of the weekdays - there again, maybe they are stuffing themselves with fast food when not at school - who knows!!

Cukurbagli, I have also noticed how mothers like to 'encourage' their kids to eat a lot - it verges on force-feeding in my book!!
I've seen them spoon-feeding kids who are way past the age to need it, and holding food in front of the kid's mouth, waiting for it to breathe, then push some more in!! My niece was spoon and force-fed too - I worry that this lack of control she has experienced will transform into anorexia or morbid obesity when she becomes a teenager, in an effort to gain control back from her mum! However, the parents don't seem to notice what they're doing.

[clinky]

I have noticed aswell the tendency to congratulate people on having a large tummy. I have a large tummy partly due to the fact I discovered beer whilst playing rugby but coming to Turkey ı've noticed i'm offered more food on the account of said girth. Also, my students often tap my stomach and say 'maşallah!'...

I also work in a private college and there are a few obese chidren, they often eat the school dinner and then 2-3 cheese toasties a day then they go home and (probably) have their mothers cook them a dinner and then they snack on what they want. My school have also taken the salt off the tables, and don't sell any fizzy drinks.

[sunny]

Generally the attitude here is 'fat is beautiful' and mothers think it's their raison d'etre to feed their children as much as possible to prove that they are good mothers. It's surprising that there aren't more fat children really.

[Amy]

They could easily be eating moderately elsewhere... 40 minutes or even an hour of basketball/volleyball wouldn't offset that kind of lunch. Although I often find it annoying how much I am expected to eat in Turkey, last time I was there, the people I stayed with made several phone calls to my father complaining that I didn't eat... even though we ate soup, borek, baklava, pilav.. all day long.

Having said that, the whole "fat is beautiful" thing must be a regional thing because when I stayed in Istanbul, people seemed to monitor my size constantly. I was a UK size 10 (US size 6) when I arrived and dropped down to a size 8 fast enough, so fitted into the smallest "adult" jeans, and yet I was still told I was too fat. Maybe it has to do with people working in the media though

[lostinparadise]

I also think there are definitely more overweight children and teenagers here than a few years back. On a local beach last week, was watching a group of teenage boys taking turns to race along the wooden platform and dive/jump off in a variety of ways. Their very fat friend looked on, occasionally standing at the end of the platform and pretending he was going to jump, then walking back to the beach again, unable to join in because of his excess kilos. I can't understand what his mother thinks she is achieving in depriving him of this. I felt very sad for him.

A while back I remember being horrified while at the hairdressers. The entire family spends the working day there, and the mother was squeezing a tube of chocolate paste into her babys mouth (baby was too young to have any teeth)!

I did read on a website a few months ago (forgotten where exactly sorry) that Turkey has the highest percentage of overweight women in Europe.

[samanthaozkara]

I had this conversations with my brother in laws wife on the weekend. My brother in law has a 1 and half year old little boy called Eren. My brother in law is obese and doesnt care he loves food and no matter how many times somebody tells him he must stop (thats all I did on the weekend was shout at him haha) he will never listen. Last weekend he came to Çeşme to visit us with his wife and Eren and I couldnt help to notice that all Eren eats is bread, loads of chocoalte and cakes and junk food just like his daddy! So when I pointed this out to my 'elti' she was shocked and said its the only way to keep him happy!

It really doesnt suprise me that these children are getting bigger when this is their parents reaction x

[sunny]

Shocking! The child doesn't have much chance of growing up a decent size does he?

[samanthaozkara]

Nope not at all x

[Ahududu]

Clinky - that's great they've taken the salt off the tables and don't sell fizzy drinks.

lostinparadise - yes, chocolate tubes hmmmm!!

Sam - at least she's honest (the only way to keep him happy) - but that's my point, it's so emotional all this childhood 'feeding'. I recently saw a colleague handing her 3 and a half year old a litre bottle of coke to drink to himself to keep him quiet, she also gives him ice-creams regularly throughout the day......needless to say his behaviour leaves a lot to be desired!

Why can't people say no to their kids?
Why can't they keep something as a treat or a reward? I hate witnessing bad behaviour from kids and the next minute they're given an ice-cream/chocolate/sweets/lollies.

I mean, your job is to educate your kids and keep them as healthy as possible - not to let them think that their developing brains and bodies can work well full of empty calories......grrrr (pet moan)

[samanthaozkara]

Ahududu its ok to keep them happy with the occassional sweet but my sister in law was giving him this rubbish when he wouldnt eat his lunch or dinner. I made kofte in the oven on Saturday and he wouldnt eat his dinner because on the table was a bottle of coke and some bread. so she said to him ok heres some coke and bread but you have to eat your kofte but eren was too clever and ate the bread and drank his glass of coke then left the table. I get so angry but as she have told me on many of visits Im not a mum so I dont know anything but last week she actually listened to me.

xxx

[sunny]

I really don't know why parents give their children fizzy drinks like cola rather than giving them fruit juice or water. None of my grandchildren had fizzy drinks while they were small and as they are bigger now their parents still don't buy cola etc.

[libbyxoakdogan]

In Altinkum, I didn't see too many obese children, they were all slim due to them being outside all the time, playing with friends and not sitting indoors on a computer or games console. But I did see the odd obese child around. But I've noticed, it is normally the mothers who try to force their kids to eat so much food, just like Kaan's Mum tries to do to both myself and Kaan, plus our nephew who is 3 years old. Kaan eats quite fast which, by the time he's full and tells his Mum he's finished, his Mum doesn't believe him and keeps telling him to eat....and she won't say it once, she'll say it about 5 times before she believes that he's really full - and Kaan is 22!

I don't think our nephew will go the same way, due to him always being on the go, but my mother in law does still try to force food down him, even if he says he doesn't want something. I do think the older people in the families are a lot to blame about obese children, as they must have grown up with the same treatment or attitude, and they feel it's right to over eat.

[lostinparadise]

I've just seen a Ministry of Health 'commercial' on TV urging viewers to fight against obesity. But it only recommends exercise - advising walking or running 30 mins per day. Nothing at all about food - which I am sure is even more important in this case.

[Meral]

Well it should be no surprise that even doctors receive little training in natural nutrition at medical school. Coupled with peer pressure and aggressive promotion of junk foods containing chemical additives, it's no wonder that the population in general is becoming more obese, let alone young children.

As is usually the case, proper education is the key to more healthy food choices, but the big junk food chains and drug companies have little to gain and much to lose if people suddenly started eating properly. This may sound extreme .... but... just follow the money !!!

[Ahududu]

I've just watched a series of 3 hour long documentaries from BBC called "The Men Who Made Us Fat" (I managed to watch it on YouTube).

It is a very good documentary which shows how governments, the food industry and advertisers manipulate us and make enormous profits.
It starts with the rise of corn farming in USA, the discovery of corn syrup and how it has been added to so much processed food, then follows on to show how the ideas of 'super-sizing' and 'bundling' in marketing encourages us to eat more, buy more and thus create more profits.
It also shows how, at every step of the way the science has been ignored by governments who are highly influenced by the food industry and its lobbyists - even to the MEPs being persuaded that the 'traffic lights' labelling on packaging would 'affect' jobs if it was to become a regulation.
Fascinating stuff.

[lostinparadise]

A new TV commercial for Vestel fridges seems to be offering a fridge full of Coca Cola or similar to the purchaser! I wonder if Vestel receives them free from the manufacturers?

I wouldnt dream of drinking this type of thing myself. A much healthier (and cheaper ) alternative I use myself is to make up in a litre bottle fruity herbal teas (I use 2 tea bags for a litre and leave them to soak for a while). Then letl this cool sand put into the fridge to cool right down. Tastes delicious. (Takes a while to cool down in this weather - so needs to be made well in advance)

[Meral]

Sounds good to me LiP. I'm sure the Coca Cola company's sole aim is to lure more consumers into their addiction. Very insidious tactics.

If diet is wrong, medicine is of no use.
If diet is correct, medicine is of no need.
Ancient Ayurvedic proverb.